Caitlin Cahow: Sending gay athletes to Sochi Games a "huge moment" for the U.S.

NEW YORK -- Last week, just hours before taking a constitutional law
exam at Boston College, Caitlin Cahow got a phone call from the White House. The
two-time Olympic medalist in ice hockey had just been named to the U.S.
delegation for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

The timing was poignant for the openly gay athlete given the
focus of her exam: the 14th Amendment and equal protection under the
law.

"I've been getting pretty well versed in
those issues so I felt pretty confident going into the exam," she told CBS
News.

Cahow was among three openly gay sports figures named by
President Barack Obama to the delegation (Billie Jean King and Brian Boitano
are the other two). The decision to send these athletes to Sochi prompted
immediate speculation that the president was jabbing Russia for its
controversial anti-gay legislation.

But for the 28-year-old Cahow, the delegation is not
about criticizing the policies of Moscow but celebrating progress and diversity
in the United States. She cited same-sex marriage, the repeal of "Don't
Ask Don't Tell" and the overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act as
examples.

"These are huge milestones," she said. "So
I'm just grateful that I can go to Sochi representing a country that has so
much diversity and so much acceptance and open-mindedness."

Whether gay athletes and spectators are accepted in
Russia remains to be seen. After Russia came under fire for passing a law banning
"propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" earlier this year,
President Vladmir Putin has been doing damage control. In recent months, he has
promised that gay athletes are welcome in Russia and that no
discrimination will be tolerated. But he has also consistently defended the
controversial legislation, which he says protects children. And earlier this
month, he appointed a conservative state news agency chief
who has railed against homosexuality on the air.Cahow, who played eight years on the national team, said
she is sure there will be protests and political statements in Sochi but
pointed out that it's "impossible to separate the Olympics from politics"
in any host city.

For her part, she has recently been active in Principle 6, a campaign that espouses the International Olympic Committee code that
prohibits any discrimination at the Games. The campaign wants sexual
orientation to be explicitly listed as a form of discrimination in the Olympic
charter.

Cahow, who has three world championship gold medals
in addition to her two Olympic medals, hopes that Obama's newly appointed
delegation can set an example on this front.

"I think it’s a huge moment for the United States
– sending openly gay athletes as the representatives of our country," she
said. "I can't stress that enough given the history of the United States
and how far LGBT people have come and the understanding and how much our policies
and mindset have changed over the years. This is really a spectacular moment."

Cahow said she has always been open with her
sexuality with friends and family but was reluctant to make it an issue while
she played. After retiring from hockey earlier this year, she said she became
more comfortable talking about it in the public eye because of "undesirable
policy" around the world.

Today, the Harvard-educated Cahow is on the brink of
getting her law degree. Driven by a strong desire to be an ambassador for the Olympics
and a keen understanding of the 14th Amendment, she is looking
forward to the day when her sexual orientation is irrelevant.

"My dream is that when I get around to having
my own family that my kids grow up in a world where these classifications no
longer matter and you no longer live and die by what someone else categorizes
you as," she said. "That is the biggest message here and I can think
of no better place than the Olympics where it’s a coming together of all people
to really put the mirror back in front of our own faces and say, 'how can we be
doing better here at home in the United States to make sure that … everyone is
appreciated and valued for their contributions.'"